The Revs did not start the night out perfect by any means. NYCFC got out on the front foot, though it is important to note that the Revs were not out of it. New York simply looked smoother in the attack, leading to the game’s opening goal. Taty Castellanos, who was on the receiving end of assists two weeks ago in their 2-0 win over a depleted Revs side, was the one dishing it out this time. A splendid goal, Santiago Rodriguez laid out with a great effort to place the ball into the bottom left corner of Matt Turner’s net.
Without Bou, Buksa, Buchanan, and Gil on the field, New England looked a little shaky. As did the NYCFC defense. Farrell launched a long ball onto the chest of Teal Bunbury. Bunbury’s move to the sideline opened up a perfect cross into Edward Kizza. Kizza’s touch was very poor, something that we have been accustomed to. But, his recovery was just phenomenal and as a result was able to lay it off for Emmanuel Boateng. The small left footer finished it off beautifully to equalize. Sean Johnson had no chance diving to his left.
The halftime and second half substitutes were always going to change the game, and that was of course the case. Carles Gil came on at halftime, with Tajon Buchanan and Adam Buksa following in minute sixty. Soon after, the Revs would find the winning goal. Gil finally grabbed an assist to add to his still league-leading tally, and Tajon fired it into the top left corner from distance. The combination was as clean as you’d like, following Carles Gil’s shake and bake of USMNT defender James Sands. The Revs found four or five more quality chances through the likes of Buksa, Gil, and Buchanan, but could not convert. While the win was solid in itself, the finishing of chances could use improvement.
The three points actually didn’t raise the Revolution’s lead in the Eastern Conference, as Nashville matched with their win over CF Montreal. The lead remains at fourteen points, with just nine games to go in the season. Seveteen points out of the possible twenty-seven remaining would hand New England the MLS points in a single season record. They will get to watch from home midweek as the rest of the league begins to catch up on games played. This means the next matchup will be with the Columbus Crew, next Saturday at 7:00 PM EST. Columbus is a crumbling team, looking about as far off as a defending champion can, so NE will look to punish that with their full squad.
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